AlleyCorp Deep Tech | April 2025 Newsletter
Recapping the LeRobot Hackathon, Our $1M Pitch competition, coverage of Glacier's $16M fundraise, and more across the industry.
Hey everyone!
Welcome to the April edition of the AlleyCorp Deep Tech newsletter. We're back with insights across our portfolio, highlights from our recent robotics hackathon, Peerless pitch competition, and more.
As always, if you're building or investing in robotics, AI, or advanced manufacturingโweโd love to hear from you.
โ Brannon
LinkedIn | X | Substack
This Monthโs Features: Event Recaps
๐ค Robot Hackathon NYC | April 19โ20, 2025
This April, AlleyCorp Deep Tech sponsored one of the largest robot arm hackathons held in NYCโand it didnโt disappoint. My good friends Nicole Ripka (betaworks), Krish Shah (xAI), and Krish Mehta (Palatial) and I welcomed over 70 hackers - ranging from professionals to high school students -- to form teams and build robot-arm applications over a high-energy weekend at betaworks' NYC office.
The mission? Prove that with open-source tooling, affordable hardware, and the right mindset, robotics is no longer limited to research labs. Itโs ready for builders.
Each participant received an SO-100 robot arm, access to Hugging Faceโs LeRobot library, and was encouraged to bring nothing more than a laptop, an idea, and a willingness to build. Teams had 3D printers running nonstop to fabricate custom end-effectors and even built their own mechanical mods to execute custom tasks. The competition rules emphasized making something real and useful. This was not a โsocial-firstโ hackathonโit was purpose-built to showcase what happens when execution is the focus.
๐ The Challenges and Tracks - Participants competed for prizes across categories. Check out the winners below
Grand Prize: Raju, the robot chess hustler, won it all. Built with YOLO vision, Stockfish chess logic, custom grippers, and trash-talking voice prompts via Gemini and Fish Audio, Raju stole the show. Watch the demo
Best Agentic Application: A robot poker player that channeled the grit and bluff of Times Square. Watch here
Fashion Award: A bimanual folding robot trained on 85 examples to master the โninja shirt fold.โ Watch here
Runner-up & Crowd Favorite: Sipper โ a voice-controlled, taste-adaptive mixologist that learned your favorite drink over time. Watch here
๐ The Experience From the kickoff fireside chat (with Ryan, Xavier, Claire, and myself - shown at the top of the article) to demo day, the weekend had the feel of a movement in motion. This wasnโt just a showcaseโit was a statement: robotics is ready, the talent is here, and the future is being prototyped.
Participants left with functioning robots, job offers, new friendsโand a hunger for more.
Weโre planning more. And if youโre an investor, founder, engineer, or student in the NYC deep tech world, youโll want to be in the room next time.
Letโs build.
โจ Peerless Pitch Competition | April 3rd, 2025
Also in April, AlleyCorp hosted the culminating event of our second Peerless Pitch Competitionโdriven by a bold vision to invest in the best founders, from anywhere, to help blaze a trail toward a more diverse and powerful tech ecosystem.
From over 600 founder submissions, we narrowed the field down to five extraordinary startups for an in-person pitch at Google NYC: Ultraview, Raya Power, Lazo, Opus Health, and Volta Health.
Over 150 founders, VCs, and ecosystem leaders showed up to watch the final pitches. I had the privilege of emceeing the event, which featured remarkable energy and spirit from the entire New York tech community.
After a thrilling round of presentations, Juan Manuel Barrero, CEO of Lazo, secured a $1M investment from AlleyCorp.
"Itโs still sinking in that months of sourcing, mentoring, and belief in founders solving the right problems came together in a single, unforgettable night." - Juan
Make no mistake: every founder who took the stage left us inspired. While Lazo took home the investment, every one of our finalists showcased extraordinary vision, grit, and execution.
Our gratitude goes out to Kevin Ryan and Desiree Almodovar, who spearheaded this initiative for AlleyCorp, along with lead partners: JP Morgan, Pillsbury and Citrin Cooperman, alongside so many supporting organizations and venture firms (Google, TechNYC, NYCEDC, AWS, 645 Ventures, Primary, Flybridge, Vamos Ventures, LevelUp, HearstLabs, Harlem Capital, L'attitude Ventures.
Watch the full event here | Learn more
๐งญ Our Portfolio & Team Highlights
๐ธ Glacier raises $16M to expand its AI-driven recycling fleet (backed by Amazon and AlleyCorp).
๐ Abe spoke with the MassChallenge NATO DIANA dual-use cohort
๐ค Abe spoke to the MassRobotics 2025 Accelerator Cohort
๐ฌ Abe attended the VEN-X Deep Tech + VC Boston event
๐ Abe also joined "The Business of Nuclear" summit in NYC. Event info
โ Brannon reviewed a robotic barista system in action Read the post
๐ Brannon spoke at Penn University about what makes robotics companies go rightโand where they go wrong.
๐ญ Industry & Ecosystem News
๐บ๐ธ Fortune dives into Gen Z and the future of U.S. manufacturing
๐ ๏ธ VC activity in manufacturing has slowed despite major industrial shifts.
๐ฒ Guardian Bikes builds first high-volume bicycle frame plant in the U.S.
๐ฟ Yarbo closes Series B to scale outdoor automation.
๐ Exowatt raises $70M Series A to deliver thermal energy infrastructure for data centers.
๐ฐ๏ธ Northwood raises $30M for its satellite ground station network.
Promo for deep tech founders
Check out Astra Partners, a new supply chain solution for deep tech startups. An overview from the founder of Astra (and our good friend!) below:
โU.S. startups in the autonomy spaceโincluding those focused on robotics, drones, and other intelligent systemsโoften possess outstanding capabilities in software and AI. However, they could gain from closer collaboration with manufacturing and improved cost optimization strategies.
At Astra Partners, we bridge this gap by linking these companies with Asiaโs premier supply chain, which includes everything from component suppliers to ODMs and CMs, with a particular emphasis on Taiwan. Drawing on eight years of venture capital experience, Iโve assisted portfolio companies in achieving efficient scaling. Now, we extend this expertise to support any startup seeking to expedite production and decrease costs. Allow us to help transform groundbreaking innovations into scalable products, enabling you to achieve faster, smarter, and more cost-effective outcomes than ever before.โ
โ Huang Lee
hlee@astrapartners.io
๐งช Tech & AI Breakthroughs
๐ Quantum GPS promises ultra-precise navigation with no satellites.
๐ง Amazonโs latest in robotics showcases integrated warehouse intelligence.
๐ Aquaculture meets automation: IEEE covers robotics in marine food production.
๐ฌ LEVA: ETH Zurichโs modular microrobot swarms.
โ๏ธ Magnetic Metabot: A new twist on locomotion.
๐ Aerial additive manufacturing: on-site building with drones
๐ค DeepMindโs Gemini Robotics brings foundation models into real-world robotics.
๐ง Closing Thoughts
This month has been a vivid reminder of whatโs possible when vision meets execution. Weโre witnessing the future being prototyped in real time.
AlleyCorp Deep Tech remains committed to supporting the best talent in the worldโwherever itโs foundโand helping turn bold technical ambition into scalable, impactful companies.
If you're working on something meaningful in advanced robotics, AI infrastructure, or frontier techโdonโt hesitate to reach out.
Weโll be back in your inbox next month with more deep tech talk. Until then, keep building.
โ The AlleyCorp Deep Tech Team